UK poverty study highlights scale of deprivation

Posted on 24 June 2014

A new study of poverty has revealed that social deprivation is on the rise, despite the much-vaunted economic growth.

According to the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom (PSE) project, which involved the University of York and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council [ESRC], the percentage of households who fall below society’s minimum standard of living has increased from 14% to 33% over the last 30 years, despite the size of the economy doubling.

Other key figures reveal that almost 18 million people cannot afford adequate housing conditions; 12 million people are too poor to engage in common social activities; one in three people cannot afford to heat their homes adequately in the winter and four million children and adults aren’t properly fed by today’s standards.

The largest study of poverty and deprivation ever conducted in the UK, clearly showing that full-time work is not always sufficient to escape from poverty, calls on the Government to take action.

Experts discussed the findings of the study, looking at trends from the past 30 years, and how best to tackle the problems, at the 3rd Peter Townsend Memorial Conference in London.